Transfer Device Particularly for Inserting Devices and Method for Transferring Articles

ABSTRACT

A transfer device for an inserting device is rotatable about an axis of rotation extending transversely to a feed direction of articles being fed to the transfer device. The transfer device has at least one receptacle for the articles. At least one transport unit for transporting the articles away in a transport direction transverse to the feed direction is provided. A central shaft for driving the transport units is provided.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a transfer device, preferably forinserting devices, wherein the transfer device is rotatable about anaxis extending transverse to the feed direction of the articles,preferably envelopes, and comprises at least one receptacle for thearticles. The invention further relates to a method for transferringarticles by means of the device described above where the articles arerotated from a first position into a second position.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] In regard to inserting devices, it is known to deflect theenvelopes to be transported through the inserting device relative totheir transport direction. For this purpose, transport units areprovided that are positioned angularly relative to one another andtransport the envelopes in different directions. On a first transportunit, the envelope is transported to a stop. By means of the secondtransport unit, the envelope is transported away from this stop positionin a different direction. Because of such a transfer device, the outputof the inserting device is limited. Transfer devices in the form ofturning devices are known where the envelopes are moved from ahorizontal position into an upright position. As soon as the uprightposition is reached, the envelopes are engaged by a transport device andtransported away. Since the further transport is carried out after theturning device has moved the envelopes into the upright position, theoutput of such an inserting device provided with such a transfer deviceis also limited.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to configure thetransfer device of the aforementioned kind and the method of theaforementioned kind such that with a simple configuration the articlescan be transported at a high output in a reliable way.

[0006] In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved inregard to the transfer device in that at least one transport unit forthe articles is provided with which the articles are transported farthertransversely to the feed direction. In regard to the method, the objectis achieved in accordance with the present invention in that thearticles, at least during a portion of the rotation process, aretransported farther transversely to the rotation path.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 shows in a schematic illustration the inlet area of aninserting device.

[0008]FIG. 2 shows schematically a plan view of the inserting area ofthe inserting device provided with a transfer device according to theinvention.

[0009]FIG. 3 shows a side view of the inserting area of the insertingdevice according to the invention according to FIG. 2.

[0010]FIG. 4 shows a transfer device of the inserting device accordingto the invention in a side view.

[0011]FIG. 5 shows an axial section of the transfer device according toFIG. 4.

[0012]FIG. 6 shows in a side view, similar to FIG. 3, the inserting areawith individually supplied envelopes which, when entering the transferarea, are arranged in a stack with overlap.

[0013]FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 in which the envelopes arehowever supplied in an imbricated flow.

[0014]FIG. 8a shows in a front view the opening action of the envelopein the inserting area by means of suction devices as well as pivotableguide elements introduced into the corner areas of the envelope forproviding a taut opening position for the closure flap.

[0015]FIG. 8b shows a plan view of the opening action of FIG. 8a.

[0016]FIG. 9a shows a view similar to FIG. 8a where however the guideelements have been pivoted into the corner areas of the envelope andkeep them open in a taut position.

[0017]FIG. 9b is a view similar to FIG. 8b with the guide elements inthe position of FIG. 9a.

[0018]FIG. 10a shows in a view similar to FIGS. 8a and 9 a the guideelements, after the envelope has been released by the suction devices,being pivoted back slightly in order to relieve the tension provided inthe corner areas of the envelope.

[0019]FIG. 10b shows a view similar to FIG. 8b and FIG. 9b with theguide elements in the position of FIG. 10a.

[0020]FIG. 11a shows a U-shaped guide element in a front view.

[0021]FIG. 11b shows the U-shaped guide element of FIG. 11a in a sideview.

[0022]FIG. 11c shows the U-shaped guide element of FIG. 11a in a planview.

[0023]FIG. 12a shows a V-shaped guide element in a front view.

[0024]FIG. 12b shows the V-shaped guide element of FIG. 12a in a sideview.

[0025]FIG. 12c shows the V-shaped guide element of FIG. 12a in a planview.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The inserting device is used to insert inserts into envelopes andclose the envelopes subsequently. The individual envelopes 1 areindividually supplied from a magazine 2 to an inlet area 3 of theinserting device. In the inlet area 3 a transport device 4 is providedwith which the envelopes 1 are individually supplied to a transportstation 5. In the transport station 5, the open envelopes 1 can bearranged already in an imbricated overlap arrangement and can betransported farther in this overlap position.

[0027] The transport device has two shafts 6, 7 arranged above oneanother. The shafts 6, 7 are rotatably driven and are positionedvertically at a spacing above one another. Advantageously, the twoshafts 6, 7 are positioned at a slant relative to a horizontal plane.The slant angle is, for example, 30 degrees. An endless circulatingtransport band or endless circulating transport belt 8 is guided aboutthe two shafts 6, 7; the transport belts or bands are used for supplyingthe envelopes to the transport station 5 in a way to be described in thefollowing. Approximately at the level of the lower shaft 7, anadditional shaft 9 is provided across which the transport belt 8 isguided. The shaft 9 is positioned at an acute angle relative to theshaft 7 so that the two axes of the shafts 7, 9 are not positioned in acommon plane. As a result of this slanted arrangement of the shaft 9,the transport belt 8 is in a twisted arrangement, as illustrated inFIG. 1. In the area of the lower shaft 7, the upper run of the transportbelt 1 is deflected by approximately 90 degrees. For this purpose, aguide roller 10 is provided whose axis 11 extends parallel to the shafts6, 7. The guide roller 10 has a significantly greater diameter than theshafts 6, 7. The transport belt 8 in the illustrated embodiment restsabout an angular area of approximately 90 degrees against the guideroller 10. The envelopes 1 are transported between the transport belt 8and the guide roller 10 in the direction toward the transport station 5.The transport belt 8 is deflected at the lower shaft 7 by 90 degreesrelative to the shaft 9.

[0028] In order for the envelopes 1 located in the magazine 2 to besupplied to the inlet area 3, at least one transport roller 12 isprovided; it extends parallel to and above the guide roller 11 and isdriven in rotation. The envelopes 1 positioned sequentially within themagazine 2 are advantageously loaded in the direction toward thetransport roller 12 so that they are engaged by the transport roller 2and supplied to the transport device 4. The transport roller 12 isembodied as a suction drum. However, it can also be provided with afriction coating in order to reliably engage the envelopes 1.

[0029] In the magazine 2 the envelopes 1 are arranged upright and areresting with a narrow side 13 on a support (not illustrated). Thesupport is positioned advantageously at the same angle relative to thehorizontal plane as the shafts 6, 7. The transport roller 12 engages theenvelopes at their lower end and transports them into the gap 14 betweenthe guide roller 10 and the transport belt 8. The spacing between thisgap 14 and the envelopes 1 located in the magazine 2 is so great thatthe envelopes 1 upon transport through the transport roller 12 arereliably engaged by the guide roller 10 and the transport belt 8 andpulled into the gap 14. The envelope 1 is then transported between thetransport belt 8 and the guide roller 10 in the direction toward thetransport station 5. A stop (not illustrated) is provided where theenvelopes 1 will come to rest with their narrow side 13. By means of thetransport roller 12 the envelopes 1 can be transported in such shorttemporal intervals sequentially to the transport device 4 that theenvelopes 1 in the transport station 5 are arranged with overlap. In theillustrated embodiment the overlap is only so great that the window 15of the envelopes 1 is still visible in the transport station 5. However,it is also possible to provide the overlap to be greater so that thewindow 15 is only partially or not at all visible in the transportstation. The transport station 5 has a corresponding support on whichthe envelopes 1 are supported with overlap in the illustratedembodiment. The lateral stop provided for the envelopes 1 in thetransport station 5 ensures that the overlapped envelopes 1 will assumea precisely defined position relative to one another.

[0030] Since the shaft 9 of the transport device 4 is positioned at aslight slant relative to the shaft 7 and, accordingly, the transportbelt 8 in the area between the lower shaft 7 and the shaft 9 is guidedsomewhat out of its plane, the respective envelope 1 upon transportthrough the device 4 is deformed minimally such that the closure flap 16of the envelopes 1 is slightly lifted off the remaining part of theenvelope. In this way, between the closure flap 16 and the remainingpart of the envelope a free space or opening is formed; during transportof the envelope 1 in the area between the guide roller 10 and the shaft9, a catch rail (not illustrated) can engage the opening. This catchrail extends in the transport direction of the envelopes 1 in the areabetween the guide roller 10 and the shaft 9 in the transport device 4.By means of this catch rail, the closure flap 16 during transport in thetransport station 5 is opened by 90 degrees. In the magazine 2 theclosure flaps 16 are still closed and rest on the backside of theenvelope 1, respectively. In this way, it is ensured that the envelopes1 can be reliably and without problems transported out of the magazine2. Once the area between the guide roller 10 and the shaft 9 is reached,the closure flaps 16 are opened by the catch rail in the described way.The twisted belt section 17 in the area between the guide roller 10 andthe shaft 9 has such a length that the envelopes 1 are secured betweenthe transport belt 8 and the guide roller 10 upon opening the closureflap 16 by means of the catch rail. In this way, it is ensured that theclosure flaps 16 can be opened properly.

[0031] In the transport device 4 the envelopes 1 are transported intheir longitudinal direction. With their narrow side 13 leading in thetransport direction, the envelopes 1 collide in the transport station 5with the stop (not illustrated). Since the closure flaps 16 in thetransport device 4 are folded open by the catch rail by only 90 degrees,the transport path from the guide roller 10 to the stop in the transportstation 5 can be kept short. In this way, the envelopes 1 can betransported at very short time intervals sequentially into the transportstation 5. The inserting device has thus a high output.

[0032] In the transport station 5, the partially opened envelopes aretransported perpendicularly to their supply direction out of the inletarea 3 in the direction of arrow 18 (FIG. 1). For this additionaltransport at least two transport rollers 72, 73 are provided (FIG. 3);between them the envelope is transported, respectively. These transportrollers 72, 73 have a flat peripheral section 74. In the initialposition the two transport rollers 72, 73 are arranged relative to oneanother such that their flat peripheral sections 74 are positionedopposite one another so that the envelope 1, coming from the transportbelt 8 with its longitudinal edge leading in the transport direction 18,can move into this gap between the two transport rollers 72, 73. As soonas this envelope 1 contacts with its narrow side 13 the stop, the twotransport rollers 72, 73 are driven such that the envelope 1 istransported by them in the transport direction 18 in the transportstation 5. In the described way, the rollers 72, 73 are rotatably drivenin a cycled fashion. The transport path of the envelopes 1 from thetransport device 4 into the transport station 5 is monitored byconventional sensors which send a signal to the transport rollers 72, 73as soon as the narrow side 13 of the envelope 1 contacts the stop in thetransport station 5. Now the transport rollers 72, 73 are driven inrotation and the envelope is transported in a cycled fashion out of thesupply area of the transport device 4 in the transport direction 18. Inthis way, the envelopes 1 in this embodiment are transportedsequentially by the transport rollers such in the transport direction 18that they will be arranged in an overlap arrangement in the transportstation 5.

[0033] During this transport of the envelopes 1 from the stop positioninto the overlap position, the closure flaps, initially opened by only90 degrees, are opened mandatorily into the basic 180 degree position.

[0034] The open envelopes 1 are moved from the transport station 5 to atransport unit 19 (FIG. 3) which is arranged in the area underneath thetransport station 5. The overlapped envelopes 1 according to thisembodiment are engaged by two transport roller pairs 20, 21 which arepositioned in the transport direction 18 at a spacing sequentiallybehind one another. Their spacing from one another is smaller than thelength of the envelope 1 so that the envelopes can be supplied reliablyto the transport unit 19. The two transport roller pairs 20, 21 arepositioned in a staggered arrangement in the vertical direction so thatthe envelopes 1 are transported at a slant downwardly in the transportdirection 18. The closure flaps 16 are completely opened as the envelope1 passes through the transport roller pairs 20, 21. After passingthrough the transport roller pair 20, the envelopes 1 reach thetransport unit 19 which extends with one end into the vicinity of thetransport roller pair 20 and with the other end into the vicinity of thefeed units 43, 44. The transport unit 19 has at least one endlesscirculating transport element 22, preferably a transport band, which isguided about rotatably driven guide rollers 23, 24, 29. The guide roller29 has such a minimal spacing from the transport roller pair 20 that theenvelopes 1 are reliably transferred to the transport element 22.

[0035] The transport element 22 interacts with an endlessly circulatingtransport element 26 that is guided about two guide rollers 25, 27. Thetransport element 26 can be in the form of a transport belt or transportband. Between the transport elements 22, 26, the envelopes 1, preferablyoverlapping one another, can be reliably transported and are entrainedin the rotational direction 32. The guide roller 25 is positioned at aspacing and vertically staggered relative to the guide roller 27 thathas a significantly larger diameter. The axes of the two guide rollers25, 27 are positioned horizontally and parallel to one another. Thetransport belt 26 is guided about the guide roller 27 by more than 180degrees.

[0036] The envelopes 1 are transported along the guide roller 27upwardly to a transport unit 43. It has an endlessly circulatingtransport belt 34 (FIG. 3) which is deflected by two guide rollers 35,36 positioned at a spacing relative to one another. At least one ofthese rollers is rotatably driven. The axes of the guide rollers 35, 36that are positioned at the same level are parallel to one another and tothe axis of the guide roller 27. In the area between the two guiderollers 35, 36 and above the upper run of the transport belt 34, twofreely rotatable rollers 37, 38 are positioned at a spacing to oneanother. By means of the transport unit 33 the envelopes 1 aretransported in the transport direction 39 to a deflection device 40.

[0037] The guide roller 35 positioned adjacent to the guide roller 27 isarranged such that the envelope 1 which leaves the guide roller 27 isreliably transported onto the upper run of the transport belt 34. Inthis transfer area 41, conventional suction devices 83, 84 (FIGS. 8a, 8b; 9 a, 9 b; 10 a, 10 b) are arranged with which the envelope 1 can beopened for insertion of an insert 42 in that the upper part 1′ of theenvelope is lifted off the lower part (see FIG. 8a).

[0038] In order to reliably secure the envelope for insertion of theinsert 42 in its opened position, as illustrated in FIGS. 8a, 8 b, 9 a,9 b, 10 a, 10 b, guide elements 81, 82 or 81′, 82′ can be pivotedadditionally into the inner corner areas 85, 86 of the lateral edges ofthe envelope 1 held open by the suction devices 83 and 84. These guideelements, as can be seen in FIGS. 11a to 11 c and 12 a to 12 c, have aU-shaped cross-section or a V-shaped cross-section and are pivotableabout rotational axes A1 and A2. The guide elements 81, 82; 81′, 82′keep the opening of the envelope 1 tautly open during the insertionprocess wherein the curved areas of the U-shaped element or the edges ofthe V-shaped element are pushed into the inner corner areas 85, 86 offthe lateral edges of the envelope 1 and in this way the corner areas 85,86 are opened farther than possible by means of the suction devices 83,84 alone.

[0039] As soon as the insert has been inserted, the guide elements 81,82; 81′, 82′ are slightly pivoted back (see FIG. 10b) simultaneouslywith relieving the suction devices 82, 84 in order to release thetension and in order to be able to transport the envelope 1 togetherwith the insert 42 away from this position by means of the transportunit 33 without encountering any significant resistance. As soon as theenvelope 1 has left the inserting station (inserting unit), the guideelements 81, 82, 81′, 82′ can be pivoted back into the initial positionillustrated in FIGS. 8a and 8 b, they are then ready for being pivotedinto the next envelope 1.

[0040] Examples for the concrete configuration of the guide elements 81,82; 81′, 82′ are illustrated in FIGS. 11a through 11 c and 12 a through12 c. While the guide elements 81, 82 according to FIGS. 11a through 11c has a uniform U-shaped cross-section across its length, in the guideelements 81′, 82′ with a substantially V-shaped cross-section accordingto FIGS. 12a to 12 c the spacing of the legs of the V from one anotherdecreases like a funnel in the direction toward the interior of theenvelope.

[0041] The insert 42 can be comprised of a single sheet but can also becomprised of two or more sheets. For introducing these inserts 42 twofeed units 43 and 44 are provided which are identical. The two feedunits 43, 44 have endless circulating transport belts 45, respectively,which are guided about two guide rollers 46, 47 positioned at a spacingto one another. The feed unit 43 that is the upper one in the mountedposition has at least one driver 48 provided on the transport belts 45which projects transversely from the transport belt and engages theinsert 42 at its trailing edge in the transport direction 39. By meansof this driver 48 the insert is pushed into the open envelope 1 when itis just about to be released from the guide roller 27 and reaches thetransport unit 33.

[0042] The supply unit 44 which is the lower one in the mounted positionhas also at least one driver 48 projecting transversely from thetransport belts 45 and entrained by them. This driver 48 also engagesthe insert 42 at the edge which is trailing in the transport direction39.

[0043] The lower supply unit 44 engages underneath the upper feed unit43, when viewed in a plan view. The driver 48 on the transport belt 45of the two feed units 43, 44 are arranged relative to one another suchthat they engage sequentially the respective insert 42 at the trailingend wherein the feed unit 43 takes over the insert from the feed unit 44and pushes it into the open envelope 1. Accordingly, the rotationalspeed of the guide roller 27 as well as the transport speeds of thetransport belts 45 of the feed units 43, 44 are matched to one anothersuch that the insert 42 can be pushed into the envelope 1, respectively.The transport belt 45 of the feed units 43, 44 are driven endlessly inrotation. In the overlap area, the two feed units 43, 44 have such aspacing to one another that the drivers 48 do not contact theneighboring feed unit or its transport belts 45.

[0044] The feed units 43, 44 have separate drives and are monitored bytorque sensors with great sensitivity. They stop the drives immediatelywhen, as a result of torque monitoring, irregularities during theinsertion process are recognized. In this way, the destruction ofinserts 42 is prevented and in the case of disturbances only minimalmanual actions are required in order to remove the cause of thedisruption. The inserting process can then be continued according toschedule without there being a need for replacing or evenre-manufacturing destroyed documents (inserts 42).

[0045] The envelopes 1 are transported by the transport unit 19 suchthat the closure flaps 16 point to the rear in the transport direction.In this way, the insertion opening for the inserts 42 in the transferarea 41 is pointing to the rear in the transport direction 39 so thatthe inserts can be reliably inserted into the envelopes. The inserts 42are supplied continuously while the envelopes 1 are stopped for a briefmoment for the insertion process. In this way, it is ensured that theinserts 42 are completely pushed into the envelope by the driver 48 ofthe feed devices before they are engaged by the transport roller 37 ofthe transport unit 33.

[0046] It is also possible to transport the envelopes from the magazine2 via the inlet area 3, the transport station 5, and the transport unitindividually and arrange them with overlap only upon entering thetransfer area 41 to form a stack 80; this is illustrated in FIG. 6.

[0047] Moreover, it is possible to arrange the envelopes, received fromthe transport unit 19 in an imbricated overlap arrangement, to a stack80 in the transfer area 41 (FIG. 7) from which stack the envelopes areremoved, stuffed with inserts and guided farther to the transport unit33.

[0048] The transport rollers 37, 38 of the transport unit 33 have aspacing which is matched to the measured length of the envelope 1 in thetransport direction 39. In this way it is ensured that the envelopes 1in the area between the transport rollers 37, 38 will not be released.

[0049] In the transport unit 33 the envelopes provided with the inserts42 are supplied by means of the transport belts 34 and the transportrollers 37, 38 to a deflection device 40 which is driven about ahorizontal axis 49 in a cycled fashion. The axis of rotation 49 ispositioned parallel to the axes of the guide rollers 35, 36. Thedeflection device 40 is arranged such that it engaged the envelopes 42filled with the inserts 42 already when the envelope is still heldbetween the transport roller 38 and the transport belt 34. In this way,a safe transfer of the envelope 1 from the transport unit 33 to thedeflection device 40 is ensured. FIG. 3 shows as an example how anenvelope 1 with insert is positioned in one of the receptacles of thedeflection device 40. As soon as this envelope has reached thisreceptacle, the deflection device 40 is rotated about its axis 49 by 90degrees so that the initially horizontally positioned envelope 1 ismoved into a vertical position. This envelope 1 is then furthertransported to a closure device 50 (FIG. 2) in which the closure flaps16 of the envelope 1 are closed. Subsequently, the closed envelopes 1are transported into a collecting station 51 where the closed envelopesare removed.

[0050] The deflection device 40 is star-shaped and has in theillustrated embodiment four transport and receiving units 52 which arestaggered by 90 degrees relative to one another. They are identical andeach have a transport device 53 (FIG. 5) which in the illustratedembodiment is an endless circulating suction belt. The transport devices53 are guided about two guide rollers 54, 55. The guide roller 55 isfixedly mounted on a shaft 56. By means of the transport devices 53 theenvelopes 1 are transported into the closing device 50 in a directionperpendicular to the feed direction 39 into the transport/receivingunits 52, respectively. The shafts 56 are positioned radially relativeto the axis of rotation 49 of the deflection device 40. On theirradially inner end the shafts 56 are provided with a bevel gear 57. Asillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bevel gears 57, which are arranged atan angular spacing of 90 degrees about the axis of rotation 49, engage acommon bevel gear 58 whose axis coincides with the axis of rotation 49of the deflection device 40. This bevel gear 58 is mounted on a shaft 59positioned perpendicularly to the shafts 56, wherein the axis of theshaft 59 forms the axis of rotation 49 of the deflection device 40. Theshaft 59 is driven in a cycled fashion by means of a servo motor suchthat the envelopes are transported reliably out of the receptacles.

[0051] The shaft 59 is surrounded at a spacing by a pipe 60 projectingon the side facing away from the bevel gear 58 past the transportdevices 53. The shaft 59 itself projects past both ends of the pipe 60as well as past the bevel gear 58. At the end projecting past the bevelgear 58, the shaft 59 is supported rotatably in bearing 61. At the otherend a pulley 66 is mounted fixedly on the shaft 59 and is in drivingconnection by means of a belt with the servo motor (not illustrated).

[0052] The pipe 60 has longitudinal slots 62, 63 sequentially arrangedat a minimal spacing in the axial direction by which air is sucked in,in a way to be described in the following, in order to secure theenvelopes by means of the transport devices 53 and to transport themreliably. The pipe 60 surrounds at a spacing an inner pipe 64 which hasslots 65 extending in the circumferential direction and arranged at thelevel of the longitudinal slots 62, 63 of the outer pipe 60. Theexterior pipe 60 is secured on a holder (not illustrated).

[0053] On the exterior pipe 60 arms 67, 68 are mounted at an angularspacing of 90 degrees relative to one another; they radially projectfrom the exterior pipe 60 and are provided in pairs (FIG. 4). The arms67 and 68 are positioned with minimal spacing opposite one another anddelimit receptacles 69 for the envelopes 1. The arms 68 are bent attheir radial outer ends at an obtuse angle so that in this area thereceptacles 69 widen radially outwardly. In this way it is ensured thatthe envelopes 1 are reliably transported by the transport unit 33 (FIG.3) into the receptacle 69 of the deflection device 40, respectively. Theenvelopes 1 rest in the receptacles 69 against the exterior pipe 60.Each receptacle 69 is delimited at one side by two arms 68 which in theaxial direction of the shaft 59 are positioned at a spacing relative toone another (FIG. 5). The arms 67, 68 project radially past thetransport devices 53 which extends in the axial direction of the shaft59.

[0054] The inner pipe 64 is rotatably supported with its end neighboringthe bevel gear 58 by means of at least one bearing 70, preferably aroller bearing, relative to the central shaft 59 and the exterior pipe60. The inner shaft 59 with the bevel gear 58 can be rotated about itsaxis. Since the bevel gears 57 and the common bevel gear 58 are engaged,by rotation of the bevel gear 58 all bevel gears 57 and thus the shafts56 are rotated. In this way, all transport devices 53 are driven incirculation in the desired direction.

[0055] The exterior pipe 60 is provided at the end facing away from thebevel gear drive 57, 58 with a belt drive 71 with which the exteriorpipe 60 and thus the entire deflection device 40 is rotated by means ofa servo motor in a cycled fashion about the axis 49. In this way, theentire deflection device 40, as soon as the transport device 33 hastransported the envelopes 1 into the receptacle 69, can be moved fromthe position according to FIG. 3 by 90 degrees in the clockwisedirection. Accordingly, the receptacle containing the envelope 1 ismoved into a vertical position while the following receptacles 69 islocated in the feed area of the transport device 33 for receiving thenext envelope. Upon rotation of the deflection device 40, the bevelgears 57 roll on the central bevel gear 58 so that the transport devices53 are driven accordingly and the envelope 1 is transported farther inthe direction toward the closing device 50. After this cycled rotationstep is complete, the belt drive 71 is stopped. In order for theenvelopes 1 to reach quickly the closing device 50, the shaft 59 isdriven in rotation so that the bevel gears 57 are driven by means of thebevel gear 58 and the transport devices 53 are driven by means of theshafts 56. The envelope 1 contained in the receptacle 69 is thustransported by the corresponding transport device 53 into the closingdevice 50 (FIG. 2) where a transport device (not illustrated) ispositioned with which the envelopes are transported farther. In thisway, the deflection devices 40 are rotatably driven in a cycled fashionand the transport device 53 is driven for transporting the envelope 1away. The transport devices 53 are advantageously suction belts whichare configured such that the suction air reaches via the transport beltsthe envelopes 1 and pulls them against the transport belts. Since theexterior pipe 60 has the longitudinal slots 62, 63, which are providedat angular spacings of 90 degrees relative to one another, for eachcycle rotation of the deflection device 40 the correspondinglongitudinal slots 62, 63 are rotated by 90 degrees across the slots 56in the interior pipe 64. The vacuum air which is generated via interiorpipe 64 can thus reach only via the longitudinal slots 62, 63 in thearea of the slots 65 the exterior and the corresponding suction belts53. The other longitudinal slots 62, 63 of the exterior pipe 60 arepositioned in an area outside of the circumferential slots 65 of theinner pipe 64 so that these longitudinal slots are closed relative tothe interior space of the interior pipe 64. The suction air can thus actonly via the longitudinal slots 62, 63 arranged above thecircumferential slots 65. In this way it is ensured that a sufficientvacuum is present in the receptacle 69 in which the envelope 1 to betransported to the closing device 50 is located.

[0056] In the illustrated embodiment, the receptacles 69 of thedeflection device 40 are provided at an angular spacing of 90 degrees sothat the deflection device 40 can be rotated in a cycled fashion by 90degrees. In this way, the envelopes 1 can be transported sequentiallyinto the individual receptacles 69 and, after rotation by 90 degrees,can be transported by actuation of the transport devices 53 fartherperpendicularly to the feed device 39 (FIG. 3) into the closing device50. The cycled rotation of the deflection device 40 and the drive of thetransport device 53 can be advantageously also such that they overlap.This has the advantage that the envelopes 1 secured on the respectivevacuum belts 53 are already partially transported into the receptacles69 while the deflection device 40 is cycled by 90 degrees. The output ofthe entire inserting device is increased because by means of theoverlapped cycled rotation of the deflection device 40 and of the driveof the suction belts 53 the envelopes 1 can be sequentially transportedwith very minimal temporal intervals.

[0057] The deflection device 40 can also have fewer than fourreceptacles 69 but also more than four receptacles 69 so that therotational angle of the deflection device 40 is accordingly varied.Moreover, the deflection device 40 can be used in all situations wherearticles must be deflected along their transport path. For example, thedeflection device 40 can be used for inserts such as sheets or otherflat articles which are to be deflected during their transport. In theembodiment, the defection is by 90 degrees. However, configurations ofthe deflection device 40 with different deflection angles is possible.

[0058] While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will beunderstood that the invention may be embodied otherwise withoutdeparting from such principles.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transfer device for an inserting device,wherein the transfer device is rotatable about an axis of rotationextending transversely to a feed direction of articles being fed to thetransfer device, the transfer device comprising: at least one receptaclefor the articles; at least one transport unit for transporting thearticles away in a transport direction transverse to the feed direction.2. The transfer device according to claim 1, further comprising acentral shaft for driving the at least one transport unit.
 3. Thetransfer device according to claim 1, wherein at least two of thereceptacles are distributed about a circumference of the transferdevice.
 4. Transfer device according to claim 3, wherein the receptaclesare identical.
 5. The transfer device according to claim 3, wherein thereceptacles each have one of the transport units correlated therewith.6. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transportdirection of the at least one transport unit extends in a direction ofthe axis of rotation.
 7. The transfer device according to claim 2,wherein the at least one transport unit has at least one endlesscirculating transport element.
 8. The transfer device according to claim7, wherein the at least one transport unit has two guide rollers andwherein the at least one transport element is guided about the guiderollers.
 9. The transfer device according to claim 8, further comprisinga first shaft, wherein a first one of the guide rollers is rotatablyseated on the first shaft.
 10. The transfer device according to claim 9,further comprising a second shaft, wherein a second one of the guiderollers is mounted fixedly on the second shaft.
 11. The transfer deviceaccording to claim 9, further comprising an exterior pipe, wherein thefirst shaft projects transversely from the exterior pipe and is fastenedto the exterior pipe.
 12. The transfer device according to claim 11,further comprising a drive shaft, wherein the exterior pipe surroundsthe drive shaft across a portion of a length of the drive shaft lengthat a spacing.
 13. The transfer device according to claim 12, wherein thedrive shaft is a central drive shaft for all of the transport units. 14.The transfer device according to claim 13, further comprising a geardrive, wherein the central drive shaft is drivingly connected by thegear drive to the transport units.
 15. The transfer device according toclaim 14, wherein the gear drive is a bevel gear drive.
 16. The transferdevice according to claim 10, wherein the bevel gear drive comprises afirst bevel gear fixedly mounted on the second shaft.
 17. The transferdevice according to claim 16, wherein the bevel gear drive comprisesseveral first bevel gears and a common bevel gear engaged by the firstbevel gears.
 18. The transfer device according to claim 17, wherein thecommon bevel gear is mounted fixedly on the central shaft.
 19. Thetransfer device according to claim 11, further comprising an exteriorpipe and an inner pipe, wherein the exterior pipe rests against an innerpipe.
 20. The transfer device according to claim 19, wherein the innerpipe is fixedly secured against rotation by a stationery holder.
 21. Thetransfer device according to claim 19, wherein the articles are held bya suction force in the receptacle on a transport element of the at leastone transport unit.
 22. The transfer device according to claim 21,wherein the exterior pipe has at least one suction air passageway foreach transport element.
 23. The transfer device according to claim 22,wherein the inner pipe has at least one suction air passageway.
 24. Thetransfer device according to claim 19, wherein the exterior pipe has anaxis of rotation and is rotatably driven by the drive in a cycledfashion about the axis of rotation.
 25. The transfer device according toclaim 19, wherein the exterior pipe is mounted in a seal-tight way onthe inner pipe.
 26. The transfer device according to claim 23, wherein,for transporting the articles out of the receptacle, the exterior pipeis rotatable relative to the inner pipe such that the at least onesuction air passage of the exterior pipe is in flow connection with theat least one suction air passage of the inner pipe as well as therespective transport elements.
 27. The transfer device according toclaim 22, wherein the at least one suction air passageway of theexterior pipe is a slot extending in a longitudinal direction of theexterior pipe.
 28. Transfer device according to claim 23, wherein the atleast one suction air passageway of the inner pipe extends in acircumferential direction of the inner pipe.
 29. The transfer deviceaccording to claim 23, wherein a length of the at least one suction airpassageway of the inner pipe is smaller than a spacing betweenneighboring ones of suction air passageways of the exterior pipemeasured in a circumferential direction of the exterior pipe.
 30. Thetransfer device according to claim 19, wherein the receptacle isdelimited by at least two arms arranged substantially radially relativeto the exterior pipe.
 31. A method for transferring articles by usingthe transfer device according to claim 1, the method comprising the stepof: rotating by a rotation process the articles from a first positioninto a second position on a rotation path; and at least during a portionof the rotation process, transporting the articles farther in adirection transversely to the rotation path.
 32. The method according toclaim 31, wherein the articles are transported in a translatory movementat least during a portion of the rotation process.